Gender Equality in Sports - A Human Rights Lawyer's Perspective

Authors

  • Jula Hughes University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law

Abstract

This paper analyzes gender equality in university sport programs through the lens of human rights legislation. It queries if and how the cause of gender equality in university sports might be advanced through the use of legal mechanisms and institutions charged with the administration and enforcement of human rights guarantees. The decision of the University of New Brunswick to cancel its Women's Hockey Varsity Team and a faculty policy on gender equity form the factual matrix of a case study that demonstrates how sports administrators may achieve or defeat gender equality in university sports. This study concludes that gender equality in sport trails the advance of that goal in other social spheres, rendering institutions and individuals vulnerable to legal liability. The paper provides an analytical framework that would manage this vulnerability. Résumé L’exposé analyse l’égalité des sexes dans les programmes de sports universitaires selon la législation sur les droits de la personne. Il propose de comprendre dans quelle mesure et de quelles façons la cause de l’égalité des sexes dans les sports universitaires pourrait être avancée grâce au recours de procédures juridiques et d’institutions chargées de l’administration et du renforcement des droits de la personne. La décision qu’a prise l’Université du Nouveau-Brunswick – soit celle de mettre fin à sa ligue universitaire de hockey pour femmes - et la politique universitaire sur l’égalité des sexes fournissent le contexte factuel d’une étude de cas qui montre à quel point les administrateurs du domaine sportif pourraient atteindre ou non l’égalité des sexes dans les sports universitaires. La conclusion affirme que l’égalité des sexes dans les sports accuse un retard par rapport aux autres sphères sociales, rendant ainsi les établissements et les personnes vulnérables à la responsabilité légale. Cette étude fournit un cadre de travail analytique qui permettrait de gérer ce risque.

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Published

2010-01-01

How to Cite

Hughes, J. (2010). Gender Equality in Sports - A Human Rights Lawyer’s Perspective. Journal of New Brunswick Studies Revue d’études Sur Le Nouveau-Brunswick, 1. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JNBS/article/view/18193

Issue

Vol. 1 (2010)

Section

Articles

License

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